A Look Inside China's 'Two Meetings'

Updated March 15, 2013 1:52 a.m. ET

China's National People's Congress on Friday approved Li Keqiang, left, as premier, succeeding Wen Jiabao, center, as the main manager of the economy and daily domestic governance.
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Mr Li shook hands with Xi Jinping, who was appointed president Thursday.
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The vote by the rubber-stamp parliament is largely a formality, and concludes a leadership process that began in November, when Mr. Li was named to the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee. Here, staff members carried the ballots.
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Mr. Li, left, Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference national committee, center, and Wang Qishan, member of the Politburo Standing Committee, smiled as they looked at their ballots.
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Mr. Xi signed an autograph for an ethnic minority delegate.
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Staff members distributed ballots to delegates. The NPC approved Mr. Xi as president in a near-unanimous vote.
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The NPC vote was a formality—Mr. Xi in November was named general-secretary of the Communist Party, making him the top official in the organization that keeps a tight grip on China's political power. Above, a delegate scanned his ballot.
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Members of the intendancy checked a ballot box.
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Mr. Xi cast his vote on Thursday.
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The congress also elected Zhang Dejiang, a member of the party's ruling Politburo Standing Committee, as its chairman. Here, Wu Bangguo, the congress' outgoing chairman, at right, shook hands with his successor.
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A delegate took a moment for a stretch during the NPC meeting.
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China set an economic-growth target of around 7.5% for this year as it kicked off its annual National People's Congress on March 5 reflecting how Beijing is turning away from breakneck growth based on exports in favor of a broader economy driven by spending at home.
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'We should unswervingly take expanding domestic demand as our long-term strategy for domestic development,' said Premier Wen Jiabao, delivering his final report to the NPC. The key to that change, he said, is to 'enhance people's ability to consume.'
Lan Hongguang/Xinhua/Zuma Press…

Beijing's broader goal is to shift the economy away from reliance on investment and exports, with a stronger role for domestic consumption, as it kick starts painful reforms to rebalance the country's economic model. Seen here, the scene at the Great Hall of the People.
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A delegate of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which serves as an advisory body to the legislature, yawned in the gallery as Mr. Wen delivered the government work report.
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A street cleaner motored past soldiers posted in front of the Great Hall of the People.
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A guard adjusted a camera as he watched over Tiananmen Square from a rooftop across from the Great Hall of the People.
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On March 3, a parallel meeting of the CPPCC convened after delegates from around the country arrived in Beijing. Seen here, Mr. Hu, second from left, Mr. Xi, center, and Mr. Wen, right, looked at Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC, in the Great Hall of the People.
Andy Wong/Associated Press…